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The week in iPad

Missed a compelling piece of iPad news, a great review, or a killer how-to? We're not collecting absolutely everything in iPad here -- you can hit up TiPb.com/iPad for that! -- but we're carefully picking what we think is the best of the last 7 days and presenting it here for your review.

And hey! -- these double as show notes for our iPad Live! podcast tonight at 9pm Eastern. So join us at [TiPb.com/live](http://www.imore.com/live] and follow along!

Apple Store 2.0 is here, iPad take-over begins! [Updated with video]

Australia, being in the future, has just seen the debut of Apple Store 2.0, the recently rumored reboot that adds interactive iPads, among other things, to the retail experience. Talk about putting your tech where your money is.

Want to learn more about that MacBook Pro or iMac? Hit up the iPad next to it for feature specs, comparisons, explanations for those new to Apple, technical support, or summon an Apple specialist for additional help at the touch of a button. (I'm figuring the staff disables that little prank-in-the-waiting by end of business day 1).

As the rising sun hits more and more regions, we're hoping to learn more about the new Apple Retail, so if you spot anything at your local store, let us know!

My only question - do the iPads have interactive iPads to explain what you can do with the iPads, on iPads?

Update 3: Apple sent a note along to employees, read it after the break. [9to5Mac]

Update 4: Just got back from checking out the new store displays. The app powering the iPads is very slick, with great animated popups (Pixar would be proud) that allow for very clean initial info pages with lots of additional details (like pricing) that can be access with a tap. Apparently Apple has more planned for this app as well, and being able to update both the app, as well as prices, specs, etc. without having to reprint paper every time is no doubt one of the motivators for this new system.

The plastic encasings are perfectly fit and pretty much weld the iPads to the table so you can't move them around. There's a proprietary connector (not the usual dock cable) powering the iPads. It's almost impossible to see. the Home buttons are disabled so you can't exit out of the display app.

There are also beautifully crafted new product identifiers in the center of the tables for iPad, iPod, iPhone, etc. Typically Apple, they're understated, elegant, and do just what they need to do without being fussy about it. (Jonathan Ive's insistence on design getting out of the way, no doubt.) Photos after the break.

TiPb Picks of the Week

Every week a few of us from team TiPb will bring you our current favorite, most fun and useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they’re iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch related, they’re fair game.

To see what we picked, and to tell us your pick, follow on after the break!

Poll: Do you prefer Apple apps or Google web apps?

While the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad come with built in, Apple made Gmail, Maps, and YouTube native apps, Google also provides Google made Gmail, Maps, and YouTube web apps. Apple native apps gain all the benefits of being part of the OS, including attachments, contact integration, etc. but Google updates their web apps quickly and keeps the experience the same regardless of the device you're using.

Do you have a preference? Do you prefer Apple's design and the unique iOS look and feel of Mail, Maps, and YouTube, or you prefer the Google vibe and want everything to look like the web regardless of where you're accessing it from?

Google continues to work around Apple with new HTML5 Maps app

Google has updated their online HTML5 Maps web app for both Android and iOS. But wait, iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch already have built in Google Maps, right? Well, they have built-in Maps apps that use Google data, but the apps themselves are made by Apple and Apple hasn't exactly been updating them at a brisk pace.

So, like they've done in the past for Gmail and YouTube, Google is using Apple's "second development platform" -- complete with location services and local storage cache -- to get their own versions of their apps onto iOS and into the hands of users.

Amazon now accepting iPhone and iPads in its Electronic Trade-In program

Amazon has just added a few new devices to its Electronics Trade-In program. Some of the new devices added are iPhones and iPads. The Amazon Trade-In Program allows you to receive an Amazon Gift Card in exchange for sending in your unwanted electronics. This could be a viable alternative if you decide you want to cash in on an iPhone or iPad prior to upgrading and really can’t face the shark infested waters of eBay or Craigs List.

Daily tip: How to turn off location data tracking on iPhone 3G, original iPhone

Have an iPhone 3G or original iPhone, no longer getting iOS updates from Apple, and wondering how to turn off location data tracking? Apple recently fixed the tracking issue in iOS 4.3.3 but devices that haven't been updated were left out in the cold. While some people argue that jailbreak may make your device more vulnerable, there have been a few instances where jailbreaking closed exploits before Apple did.

Jailbreak dev Ryan Petrich has again came through with untrackerd. Anyone running an iPhone 3G (which stopped getting updates with iOS 4.2) or original iPhone (which maxed out at iOS 3.1.3) can install it and not worry about data tracking. Hit the jump for a quick step by step!

Apple still needs music publishers on board for iTunes cloud streaming service

Peter Kafka over at All Things Digital reports that Apple has yet another hurdle to overcome before iTunes cloud streaming can become a reality -- getting music publishers to sign off. Although Apple has been negotiating and finalizing deals with the music labels, including Sony now, that's apparently not enou.

Reviews From the Forums

Some of our senior forum members are taking requests to review iOS games/applications of your choice. We’ve decided to spotlight these reviews and encourage all of you to reply with your opinions regardless or whether your agree or disagree. We want to know what you think of these applications.

EFF: Apple should defend developers in face of patent threats

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has called on Apple to be developers' knight in shining armor in face of threats from patent trolls. As TiPb covered in our special edition iPhone Live podcast with FOSS Patent's Florian Mueller, iOS developers including James Thomson of PCalc and the Iconfactory, makers of Twitterrific have received letters from patent holding company, Lodsys, asking for licensing fees for the use of in-app purchases for in-app upgrades. The EFF sees that position as untenable:

Foxconn said the situation has been brought under control by the fire department and the "cause of the explosion is being investigated by local police." The company said it is cooperating with the investigation and production at the site has been suspended until the investigation is completed.

It apparently occurred in the "polishing plant" at around 7pm local time.

New and updated iPhone and iPad apps for Friday, May 20

Every day, TiPb gets flooded with announcements for new and updated iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps and games. So every day we pick just a few of the most interesting, the most notable, and simply the most awesome to share with you!

Apple retail getting updated iPad apps, about to deploy OS X Lion(?!)

Looks like Apple retail is getting new setups, including new iPad apps for their iPads, bringing their complement to Daily Download, RetailMe, Apple Connect, Apple Directory, Concierge, Mobile Genius, iRepair, and Easy Pay (the credit card processing app currently used on iPod touch).

Daily Download, which is a well-produced internal Daily 'newspaper for employees'. It is incredibly stylish and functional and and much better than the previous web-based version that existed before.

AT&T shows off lightning fast LTE network for future 4G iPhone

GigaOM was able to play around with the trial LTE network that AT&T has setup at their Foundry space in Plano, TX, which just might be used by iPhone 6 in 2012. They were able to reach blazingly fast speeds, beating out Verizon's LTE performance without a hitch.

the highlight of the lab was that the Foundry is home to a trial Long Term Evolution network. I asked for a demo and got one. The speeds provided on the download side were about 28.87 Mbps, and were about 10.4 Mbps on the upload side.